Daniela Torres: DUI manslaughter suspect was set to stand trial before she fled to Brazil

DUI manslaughter suspect in 2008 crash flees

Evan Axelbank

7:48 PM, Jul 22, 2013

9:00 AM, Jul 23, 2013

Crash suspect flees to Brazil

WPTV

WPTV

Copyright 2013 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Ask Martha Wright to describe her daughter, Deborah Peterson, and she says the apple didn't fall far from the tree.

"She believed in telling you just like it was," said Wright.

Now Martha is the one straight-shooting, calling it outrageous that Daniela Torres, who in 2008 allegedly drove drunk on I-95 in Boca and hit the car Deborah was riding in - killing her and a friend - took off for Brazil last August.

"My only child is dead. This girl is over in Brazil, wherever, doing everything she wants to do, " said Wright.

At Torres' court appearance in 2009, prosecutors never asked the judge to confiscate her passport, pointing to past cooperation with prosecutors. She made $50,000 bond.

Weeks before her trial, she split.

"It doesn't make any kind of sense," said Wright.

The Palm Beach County state attorney's office responded Monday, saying even if they had asked for Torres' passport, they couldn't have stopped her from getting another one.

And even worse for the family, getting Torres back from Brazil is going to be even more difficult than just finding her there.

"One of the great challenges about Brazil is that they are very reluctant to extradite even if someone is taken into custody," said Palm Beach County State Attorney Spokesman Mike Edmonson.

Peterson's family is pushing a local congressman to introduce legislation that would require those accused of a felony from other countries to give up their passports.

"I'm going to fight for her. I'm going to fight every system I can fight until I get justice," said Wright.

Five years of waiting for trial just got longer.

Copyright 2013 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.